Join Me in My Addiction!

Thank you for visiting my blog...and for allowing me to share with you my addiction. I love to collect recipes. I love to read cookbooks. I have been collecting recipes for as long as I can remember, and on any given day there are one or two (or more!) cookbooks residing on my nightstand!

This blog is chronicling my adventure as I fulfill my resolution of trying (at least) one new recipe each week. I hope that you enjoy!

I invite you to join me in my journey, simply by clicking the "Join this Site" link below. And please feel free to comment on any of the recipes, and pin away. Thanks, I look forward to sharing with you!

Saturday, February 9, 2013

How Do You Preserve Your Food?

Recently we were given the opportunity to try out the Foodsaver V3460. In our house, we are totally new to the Foodsaver system, I've always wondered about them, but never invested. We have friends who swear by their Foodsaver systems, so we were pretty excited to test our own. Given the amount of food that goes through our house in a given week, we are big on "stocking up". Whether it be meat purchases or fruit when it is in season, we like to get good value for our money and keep a freezer full of good food choices.I didn't do any research on the Foodsaver prior to using our new system. I didn't want to be swayed by anyone else's opinions. When the box arrived, we were surprised at its size. It's not huge by any means, but it is a decent size, given what it can do for us.I will admit that when we first opened her up to test her out, we were a little overwhelmed. Not quite sure how it was all going to work, but we read through the instructions, did our first run "step by step"...and after that first run, we were all "hey, this is totally easy!" My hubby got quite involved in the process and quickly set to work making our own bags. It didn't take long to package up our chicken and pork for the freezer. Easy breezy!So now that we've given it a go (and have discovered how easy the process is) - I took a look online. I learned a lot! I found this great chart on storage comparisons, which I just love:

Food Storage Comparisons

FREEZER

Ordinary Storage

FoodSaver System

Beef, Game & Poultry

6 months

2-3 years

Fish

6 months

2 years

Soups & Stews

3-6 months

1-2 years

Coffee Beans

6-9 months

2-3 years

Vegetables

8 months

2-3 years

Bread

6-12 months

1-3 years

REFRIGERATOR

Ordinary Storage

FoodSaver System

Cheese

1-2 weeks

4-8 months

Lettuce

3-6 days

2 weeks

Berries

1-6 days

1-2 weeks

PANTRY

Ordinary Storage

FoodSaver System

Flour & Sugar

6 months

1-2 years

Rice & Pasta

6 months

1-2 years

Cookies

1-2 weeks

3-6 weeks

I am particularly pleased with the difference in storage times for the freezer items and the berries. While I don't expect any of our food products to remain in our freezer or fridge for the extended periods of time shown above, I am happy to know that the option is there should we need it!The Foodsaver will be a welcome addition to our kitchen - especially for our bulk purchases and ensuring they last as long as we are needing them to!If you want to learn more about the Foodsaver system, head on over to their website and Facebook page!

Disclosure - I received product in exchange for my honest opinion. The views expressed in this post are solely my own.

11 comments:

Hey! You have a great blog! :) I nominated you for the Liebster Award. If you want to know more please check out the post on my blog... http://behindtherandom.blogspot.com/2013/02/liebster-award.html:)

This looks like a great product to try! I always wondered what the refrigerator life was for berries- they never seem to last as long as they should, and now I know why! ;) thanks for sharing those charts!-Heather :)

My husband and I have had three Foodsavers and we truly love the lastest one. It is easy to use and great for the budget minded individual. It is well worth the investment or in our case it was a great gift we received. Thank you for a great blog Dawn.